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1986 Maryland

5–⁠5–⁠1 (2–⁠3–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bobby Ross.

Schedule and results

Maryland in 1986, game by game: won at Pittsburgh 10–7; won vs. Vanderbilt 35–21; won at West Virginia 24–3; lost vs. NC State 16–28; lost vs. Boston College 25–30; lost vs. Wake Forest 21–27; won at Duke 27–19; lost at North Carolina 30–32; lost at No. 2 Penn State 15–17; tied at No. 15 Clemson 17–17; won at Virginia 42–10+32−12Won 10–7 at Pittsburgh+3PittsburghWon 35–21 vs. Vanderbilt+14VanderbiltWon 24–3 at West Virginia+21West VirginiaLost 16–28 vs. NC State-12NC StateLost 25–30 vs. Boston College-5Boston CollegeLost 21–27 vs. Wake Forest-6Wake ForestWon 27–19 at Duke+8DukeLost 30–32 at North Carolina-2North CarolinaLost 15–17 at No. 2 Penn State-2No. 2 Penn StateTied 17–17 at No. 15 Clemson0No. 15 ClemsonWon 42–10 at Virginia+32Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atPittsburghW 10–⁠761%
Sep 13vsVanderbiltW 35–⁠2184%
Sep 20atWest VirginiaW 24–⁠352%
Sep 27vsNC StateL 16–⁠2885%
Oct 11vsBoston CollegeL 25–⁠3078%
Oct 18vsWake ForestL 21–⁠2776%
Oct 25atDukeW 27–⁠1962%
Nov 1atNorth CarolinaL 30–⁠3249%
Nov 8at2Penn StateL 15–⁠1721%
Nov 15at15ClemsonT 17–⁠1735%
Nov 28atVirginiaW 42–⁠1064%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Virginia 42–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 13

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1986.

Record
5–⁠5–⁠1
Conference
2–⁠3–⁠1 5th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
262–⁠211
Coach
Bobby Ross
Elo
1602 −39 this season
SP+ rating
9.0 No. 33 of 101; offense No. 43, defense No. 30
SRS
9.1 No. 26 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Ralph Friedgen
Captains
Alvin Blount, Chuck Faucette and Bruce Mesner

All-ACC

2 first team

First team

  • Chuck FaucetteLBAP
  • Keeta CovingtonDBAP

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson5–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠217
NC State5–⁠28–⁠3–⁠1
North Carolina5–⁠27–⁠4–⁠1
Georgia Tech3–⁠35–⁠5–⁠1
Maryland2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Wake Forest2–⁠55–⁠6
Duke2–⁠54–⁠7
Virginia2–⁠53–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.